49 High Street

As it was a glorious sunny day we set off in the car for a walk.

When we reached the car park the skies opened and there was thunder and lightening.  We sat for a while and decided that it wasn't going to get any better so we drove home.

In the afternoon we walked into town with Murphy.  We have a book called "Look Up" and it explains the history of some of the buildings in Winchester.  The ages of some are quite surprising.  The ones that look old aren't and some are much older than you expect.

This is 49 High Street.  It was built in 1712 and was originally a court of law.  It is now a bank. The clock and statue of Queen Anne are its main features and were the result of immense rivalry between Winchester's two Members of Parliament at the time: George Brydges presented the city with the gift of the statue of Queen Anne while Lord William Powlett donated the City Clock.  However the statue does not fit within the clock structure as intended so they are mounted next to each other.

The clock's face was the first in southern England to be lit by gas.

The curfew bell in the bell tower still sounds at 8pm. The curfew was the time to extinguish all home fires until the morning.